Hi Malcolm Sounds like your numbers are coming up nicely! And you are doing all the right things to get back your strength and energy. But recovery takes its own sweet time--but you will get there!! Emotinal sx take awhile to resolve themselves also. Hang in there--every day it gets better.
Donna,
Truer Words Were Never Spoken! Recovery will have it's bumpy spots, but you'll no doubt handle it like a champ, Malcolm.
Cheers,
Tim
Shep said
Mar 16, 2013
Hi Malcolm Sounds like your numbers are coming up nicely! And you are doing all the right things to get back your strength and energy. But recovery takes its own sweet time--but you will get there!! Emotinal sx take awhile to resolve themselves also. Hang in there--every day it gets better.
Zlikster said
Mar 16, 2013
glad your blood is getting its proper cell levels back! ;)
must be stressful eot vl checks....6 more weeks until 12th week vl check? after that chance for relapse is just few precent? i bet this summer you will be relaxing n fishing on boat with liver's nasty tenant long time gone, sending us advices n tips as a hcv free man ;)
wish u all the best!
Uval951 said
Mar 15, 2013
Malcolm, great results, your blood recoveres very well. How are your AST/ALT levels? Hope still as low as were after +2 weeks!
mallani said
Mar 15, 2013
Hi Matt,
The subject of decreased platelets in chronic HCV is quite complex. There is wide individual variation, but on the whole, patients with HCV have decreased platelet counts ( but not below 150,000). The mechanism is thought to be due to direct bone marrow depression by the virus, decreased thrombopoietin production by the liver and an autoimmune reaction. As liver fibrosis increases, the platelet level decreases. Cirrhotics may have such low platelets (thrombocytopenia) that treatment is not possible. The platelet level is one of the tests used to measure progression of cirrhosis. When cirrhotics develop portal hypertension, the spleen enlarges and becomes engorged with blood. Some docs. think this causes 'trapping' of platelets. Others don't think 'hypersplenism' is a big deal.
When you add Rx to this picture, platelet levels decrease further mostly due to bone marrow depression from Interferon. Low platelets (<50,000) may require transfusion or elthrombopag.
I stated Rx with a platelet count of 210,000. Since 1990, this has varied from 150,000 to 250,000. I've been happy with this. During Rx the platelets dropped to 36,000. Since EOT, they are back to 124,000. I imagine they will climb up to ~200,000, and I'll be happy.
Having had cirrhosis for about 6 years, I probably have some early portal hypertension. On ultrasound, my spleen is very slightly enlarged. I do not expect any change in splenic size as my platelets rebound.
Matt Chris said
Mar 15, 2013
Malcolm
Yours results seems very impressive , your energy should be following right behind.
I did have a question regarding the platelets. When our platelets rebound like your have done does the spleen reduce in size. The reason I ask is my Doc. Said my enlarged spleen is holding a lot of the blood platelets because of the HCV and was part of the reason I had low platelets, along with being cirrhotic.
Any thoughts
Matt
JoAnneh said
Mar 15, 2013
Malcolm, I am impressed that you lived they tx! You wait and see how much better you feel In few weeks. Your counts were so low You are blest u made it friend! Be patient!!!!!! Stop being hard on yourself! We will be strong and fit for the summer. Ha!!
mallani said
Mar 14, 2013
Hi all,
Had my EOT + 4W blood draw yesterday, only for blood parameters.
Hb: 12.4 up from 10.0 ( 2 weeks ago) up from 7.1 (EOT)
WCC: 4.7 up from 3.1 ( 2 weeks ago ) up from 1.8 (EOT)
Platelets: 124 up from 76 ( 2 weeks ago ) up from 36 (EOT)
All very impressive and moving in the right direction. My energy levels are better, but my poor body can't cope. At my age, the muscle wasting is going to take a while to reverse. I've had bad reflux, which is probably related to eating decent food again, so my doc has had me on a big dose of 'Pariet' to decrease gastric acid production.
I'm a bit disappointed I don't feel 'great' but it's early days yet. I'm swimming and doing the walking machine each day and now my platelets are up, my dentist can rip the roots out from my broken tooth, and do a proper descale and clean.
Looking at other Post Tx posts, I have come to the following conclusions.
. Recovery is dependent on the EOT bloods. In the US, where Hb drop is managed so aggressively, few patients finish Rx with a HB of<11
. Fitness level at SOT, duration of Rx and age. 48 weekers suffer most, and ingest more drugs. This is especially true for Victrelis, where all three drugs continue to week 48. Older patients lose muscle mass more quickly and find it harder to regain.
. Mental aspect. The expectation of finishing Rx leads one to believe Sx will disappear ( for dummies like me). This is obviously variable, but can take months. There is stress as to when to get the next VL test. Most relapses occur at 4-8 weeks, so I am not getting a VL until EOT + 12 w. The prospect of failure is very real, and I want to be a bit fitter before I have to deal with that.
Sorry, I sound gloomy but I'm not!
-- Edited by mallani on Friday 15th of March 2013 06:54:47 AM
Very good news.
Donna,
Truer Words Were Never Spoken! Recovery will have it's bumpy spots, but you'll no doubt handle it like a champ, Malcolm.
Cheers,
Tim
Sounds like your numbers are coming up nicely! And you are doing all the right things to get back your strength and energy. But recovery takes its own sweet time--but you will get there!! Emotinal sx take awhile to resolve themselves also. Hang in there--every day it gets better.
glad your blood is getting its proper cell levels back! ;)
must be stressful eot vl checks....6 more weeks until 12th week vl check? after that chance for relapse is just few precent? i bet this summer you will be relaxing n fishing on boat with liver's nasty tenant long time gone, sending us advices n tips as a hcv free man ;)
wish u all the best!
Malcolm, great results, your blood recoveres very well. How are your AST/ALT levels? Hope still as low as were after +2 weeks!
Hi Matt,
The subject of decreased platelets in chronic HCV is quite complex. There is wide individual variation, but on the whole, patients with HCV have decreased platelet counts ( but not below 150,000). The mechanism is thought to be due to direct bone marrow depression by the virus, decreased thrombopoietin production by the liver and an autoimmune reaction. As liver fibrosis increases, the platelet level decreases. Cirrhotics may have such low platelets (thrombocytopenia) that treatment is not possible. The platelet level is one of the tests used to measure progression of cirrhosis. When cirrhotics develop portal hypertension, the spleen enlarges and becomes engorged with blood. Some docs. think this causes 'trapping' of platelets. Others don't think 'hypersplenism' is a big deal.
When you add Rx to this picture, platelet levels decrease further mostly due to bone marrow depression from Interferon. Low platelets (<50,000) may require transfusion or elthrombopag.
I stated Rx with a platelet count of 210,000. Since 1990, this has varied from 150,000 to 250,000. I've been happy with this. During Rx the platelets dropped to 36,000. Since EOT, they are back to 124,000. I imagine they will climb up to ~200,000, and I'll be happy.
Having had cirrhosis for about 6 years, I probably have some early portal hypertension. On ultrasound, my spleen is very slightly enlarged. I do not expect any change in splenic size as my platelets rebound.
Malcolm
Yours results seems very impressive , your energy should be following right behind.
I did have a question regarding the platelets. When our platelets rebound like your have done does the spleen reduce in size. The reason I ask is my Doc. Said my enlarged spleen is holding a lot of the blood platelets because of the HCV and was part of the reason I had low platelets, along with being cirrhotic.
Any thoughts
Matt
I am impressed that you lived they tx!
You wait and see how much better you feel
In few weeks. Your counts were so low
You are blest u made it friend!
Be patient!!!!!! Stop being hard on yourself!
We will be strong and fit for the summer. Ha!!
Hi all,
Had my EOT + 4W blood draw yesterday, only for blood parameters.
Hb: 12.4 up from 10.0 ( 2 weeks ago) up from 7.1 (EOT)
WCC: 4.7 up from 3.1 ( 2 weeks ago ) up from 1.8 (EOT)
Platelets: 124 up from 76 ( 2 weeks ago ) up from 36 (EOT)
All very impressive and moving in the right direction. My energy levels are better, but my poor body can't cope. At my age, the muscle wasting is going to take a while to reverse. I've had bad reflux, which is probably related to eating decent food again, so my doc has had me on a big dose of 'Pariet' to decrease gastric acid production.
I'm a bit disappointed I don't feel 'great' but it's early days yet. I'm swimming and doing the walking machine each day and now my platelets are up, my dentist can rip the roots out from my broken tooth, and do a proper descale and clean.
Looking at other Post Tx posts, I have come to the following conclusions.
. Recovery is dependent on the EOT bloods. In the US, where Hb drop is managed so aggressively, few patients finish Rx with a HB of<11
. Fitness level at SOT, duration of Rx and age. 48 weekers suffer most, and ingest more drugs. This is especially true for Victrelis, where all three drugs continue to week 48. Older patients lose muscle mass more quickly and find it harder to regain.
. Mental aspect. The expectation of finishing Rx leads one to believe Sx will disappear ( for dummies like me). This is obviously variable, but can take months. There is stress as to when to get the next VL test. Most relapses occur at 4-8 weeks, so I am not getting a VL until EOT + 12 w. The prospect of failure is very real, and I want to be a bit fitter before I have to deal with that.
Sorry, I sound gloomy but I'm not!
-- Edited by mallani on Friday 15th of March 2013 06:54:47 AM